Finance Minister of Ghana, Ken Ofori-Atta has announced the elimination of toll booths on all public roads and bridges.
With toll booths having been introduced in Ghana decades back, the Finance Minister admits that although they have helped maintain and build roads, they have become more of an inconvenience and contributed to environmental pollution, hence the decision to remove them from all public roads.
Presenting Ghana’s 2022 Budget to parliament, Ken Ofori-Atta, shared, “For decades after decades, the government has imposed and maintained tolls on some public roads to raise funds for road construction and maintenance. Over the years, the tolling points have become unhealthy market centers, led to heavy traffic on our roads and lengthened travel time from one place to another and impacted negatively on productivity.
According to him, the inconveniences caused by traffic jams at tolling points also leads to pollution in and around vicinities these toll booths are situated.
“To address these challenges, the government has abolished all tolls on public roads and bridges,” he announced.
Sharing the fate of toll collection personnel, he added that these people will be re-assigned and believes the benefits of this move, such as the reduction in environmental pollution will more than offset revenue forgone by removing toll booths on all public roads and bridges.
